Improved ratchet-lever



diritta lteres aan een.

Letters Patent No. 103,763, dated May 3l, 187 0. f

IMPRovEn RAToHET-Lnvnn.

The Schedule referred .to in these Letters Patent .and making part of the same 'To all whom it maal concern.-

a full and exact description thereof, reference being had lto the accompanyingr drawings and to the letters and tigures of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to presses for use in cheesefactories, and for similar purposes, and l The invention consists in a detachable lever and` pawl,.of novel construction, whereby thesame lever may be-used on any number of screws, and may alsok be reversed and used to turn the screw either up or down, as hereinafter more fully explained.

Figure l is a perspective view of a screw, with my improved lever applied thereto, ready for operation.

Figure 2'is a similar view of the screw, with the lever detached.

v Figure 3 is a view of the lever detached.

In cheese-factories it is necessary to have a large number of presses, for pressing the cheeses, a separate press being used for each separat-e cheese being made at the same time.

'lhese presses usually consist of a strong iron screw, B, as shown in the drawings, .with a nut, I,

secured to a beam above, and having their lower.

ends fitted loosely in a hub or plate, A, at the bottom, 'a series of these presses or screws being arranged iu a row along one or more' sides of the room. t

Heretofore, these screws have usually been 'made withI an enlargement or swell near their lower end,

this enlargement having two holes made through` it at right augles, to receive the end 'of an iron rod or hand-lever, by which they were operated.

Thismethod is not only17V slow and tedious, especally when large numbers. are to be operated, but it is diicult to preserve the requisite cleanliness, as

-ilth is sure to accumulate more -or less iu these holes, and still more so when a leveris used which is attached permanently to the screw, as is sometimes done.

'lo obviate these objections, and provide a lever that can be readily attached toand detached from the screw, and that can be so applied as to turn the screw rapidly in either direction, is the object of my present invention.

'lo accomplish this object, I provide the. screw B with a serratedwor notched disk, C, which is keyed or shrunk fast ou the smooth or uncut body of the screw, near its lower end, a little above the top of the plate or followerA, as shown in g. 2.

I then take a bar of iron, and bend its end into the form of a hook, of proper size to embraceI the smooth portion of the screw rod, as shown in Iig. 3.

To this lever I then pivot a pawl, E, in such a position that, when the lever is applied to the screw, as represented iu fig. 1, the end of the pawlE will rest iu the notclies'of the disk O, as there represented.

A spring, H, is placedv behind the pawlon the level', so'as to press it forward, and hold its front end in contact with the disk.

The front end of this pawl E, where it comes iu contact with thedisk C, is about three times as wide as the lever D is thick,'so that, when the hooked end of the lever is applied to the body of the screw, the end of the pawl shall lreach up far enough sidewise to eugage with the teeth or notches of the disk, as represented in iig. 1. v.

When thus applied, it-will be seen that, as the outer end of the lever is drawn forward,l the pawl E, engaging with the teeth of the disk G, will turn it, and' thereby the screw D, but` that, when the lever is thrown back, the pawl slips over the teeth, thus leavingthe screw stationary, ready for another forward motion, as the lever is again brought forward, and thus by a simple back-andforward inotion of the lever, without detaching it, the screw is operated..

When it is desired to turn the screw in the op-l posite direction, the lever is unhooked, turned over,

and hooked on again, the wide cud ofthe pawl eni gaging now on its opposite side with the teeth of the disk, as before, only point-ing in the opposite direction. Now, by working the lever back and forth, the' screw is turned as before, but in the opposite ,directou.

When one screw has been operated to the required extent, the lever is detached and applied to the next, and so on through the entire series.

Itis obvious that the hook may be applied either below or above the disk 0, the wide eu'd of the pawl Eeugagiug with the teeth ofthe disk the same in either case.

Itis further obvious that the/pawl may bc made with its end no wider than the disk is thick, by having it slightly bent to one side, so as to bring it iu line with the teeth of the disk; but', in such case, it

would be necessary to apply the hook above the disk, to turn the screw in one direction, and below-the disk, to turn the screw in the opposite direction.

I prefer to make it with the wide cud, as before described, as it is immaterial, in such case?,'whether it be applied above or below the disk, it operating equally well in either position.

It will be seen that there are no holes,uor loose collars, or similar parts about the screw, in or about which filth or dirt of any kind is liable to accumulate, the screws being all accessible, and easily cleaned.

By this improvement, the screws can also be op erated much faster than by the old-style lever, and, at the same time, a single lever will answer vfor any number of screws. A

Lam aware that levers have been permanently attached to screws, with a pawl or pawls arranged to engige with aratchet-Wheel, to ftrn the screw in either direot'ion, and also that detachable .levers of various kinds have been used, and, therefore, I do not claim them; but,

Haying'thus described my invention,

' What I claim is- The detachable lever, consisting,r of the handle A, hooked end D, and spring pawl E, 4in combination with theratchet Gand ,its supportingnhaft. AB,when constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herendescrihed,

Dated Utica, Febriiary 7, 18,68. y

HENRY W. MILLAR.

Witnesses:

I. G. OOYE, J oHN MUNN. 

